Even the Best of Us Must Die
by Phantom Trekkie
Summary: My first ever Star Trek: Enterprise fic. A sad little one-shot. I own nothing.


Commander Charles Tucker (the third) rushed into sickbay's doors, along with his Captain's faithful and loyal friend, Porthos.

"Doc, it' Porthos. He's couldn't get up, and he wouldn't eat anything. I even gave him some cheese, but he wouldn't eat it! I think there's something wrong with him." Trip said as he frantically laid his Captain's prized beagle on the bio-bed.

Dr. Phlox gave Trip a sharp look. He tried to persuade Captain Archer not to feed his dog cheese; now Trip and T'Pol both fed the dog cheese while they doggy sat him.

"Well, now. Let's take a look." Dr. Phlox began examining Porthos, running scans with his medical tricorder. Trip wrung his hands as he watched the Doctor do his job.

"Doc, you gotta do somethin'! Captain's gonna skin me like a 'gator if he comes back and Porthos is sick!" Trip said desperately.

The Doc shook his head. He knew that this time would come sooner or later.

"Commander, there's no pathogen infecting Porthos. From what I can tell, his old age is catching up with him. And feeding him that _cheese_ didn't help." Phlox said as he removed his gloves.

Trip's face fell. How was he supposed to inform Captain Archer that his best friend was just too old to be living anymore? Commander Tucker pulled out his communicator, and signaled the Bridge.

"T'Pol here." Came the answer.

"T'Pol, this is Commander Tucker. I think you need to come to sick bay. Now." Trip said, panicking.

"Is there something wrong, Commander?" T'Pol asked in her smooth, clear voice.

"It's Porthos, T'Pol." Was all Trip said.

The comm. signal ended, and within minutes T'Pol, Malcolm, Hoshi, and Travis where all in sickbay.

"Hey fella, I hear you're not feeling so good." Hoshi said in a calm voice as she petted Porthos' back.

Travis and Malcolm where talking quietly in the corner with the Doctor. After the conversation had ended, they walked over to pay Porthos their visit.

"Porthos, this is a very inconvenient time to grow too old to move. Why couldn't you wait until Captain Archer returned from his visit to Earth?" T'Pol spoke to the dog.

"With all due respect, Commander, I don't think Porthos had much of a say-so in this." Malcolm said as he examined the dog for himself.

"There's nothing you can do for him?" Travis asked Dr. Phlox.

The Doctor shook his head. "I estimate he only has two, maybe three days left. There's yet to be a cure for old age."

The crew suddenly became silent. After a few moments of pure contemplation, Trip was the first to speak up.

"Two to three _days_? We don't rendezvous with the Captain's transport vessel until four days from now!" Trip exclaimed.

"I'm sorry, Commander, but there's not much I can do for him! He's an old beagle, who's lived longer than I expected, and he's finally growing old. There's just nothing I can do!" Dr. Phlox explained, slightly annoyed.

"Well, T'Pol. You're the commanding officer around here at the moment. What do you think we should do?" Hoshi asked as she played with Portho's ears.

T'Pol raised her eyebrows ever so slightly. She didn't think being in command of the ship for a week would mean deciding on what to do with the Captain's dog.

"I think…we should notify the Captain, and return to Earth." T'Pol said, not so sure of herself.

"Return to Earth? That's a two day trip! We'd barely make in time before Porthos…before he…you know." Trip countered.

"What do you suggest I do, Commander Tucker? Order the Doctor to put Porthos to sleep? The Captain very much prefers the company of his dog. The least we could do is allow him to say his goodbyes." T'Pol said, her voice barely above a whisper.

"What if we have the Captain video-call the ship, and say his goodbyes to Porthos that way?" Lieutenant Reed suggested.

Hoshi tipped her head to the right, meaning she was thinking her superior's suggestion over. T'Pol didn't say anything, and the Doctor seemed to agree.

Trip, on the other hand, gave Malcolm a look that would make anyone in the galaxy feel stupid.

"Malcolm, that is the _stupidest_ idea I've heard since my aunt said catfish tasted like snails!" Trip exclaimed, throwing his hands into the air.

"Well, what do you expect, Commander? It's better than turning around, and going all the way to Earth for a _dog_! And I agree with your aunt. I **hate** catfish!" Malcom countered. Trip put his face just an inch away from Malcolm's.

"Say that again, and I swear I'll have Chef make catfish everyday for the rest of your life!" Trip yelled.

"Lieutenant, Commander, that's enough. The more pressing problem at the moment is Porthos, not whether cat fish tastes like snails." T'Pol placed herself between Malcolm and Trip.

"Ensign," T'Pol said as she turned towards Travis, "I need you to go to the Bridge, and set a course for Earth. Maximum warp."

Travis obeyed, knowing better than to get in a brawl with a Vulcan woman.

"I hope you know what you're doing." Trip said as he walked by T'Pol before returning to Engineering.

"I hope so too." T'Pol whispered to herself.

"Commander T'Pol, do you see that little white speck on the view screen? That's Earth." Travis announced. They had been pushing their engines hard to make it to Earth in time, and Portho's condition was degrading rapidly.

"Hail Starfleet Headquarters." T'Pol commanded Hoshi.

Hoshi motioned that the comm. link was open.

"Starfleet Headquarters, this is Enterprise." T'Pol said.

Within seconds, there was Admiral Gardner, on the view screen.

"Enterprise, I wasn't aware that you were returning to Earth." The Admiral said in a cheerful voice.

"We weren't planning to, but there's an emergency, and I believe Captain Archer needs to be onboard." T'Pol explained.

"What kind of an emergency is it, T'Pol? Is everyone alright?" Captain Archer's head became visible on the view screen. Apparently, he was in Admiral Gardner's office when she had hailed him.

"Captain, everyone is fine, but...I'm afraid…it's Porthos…." T'Pol said as she looked at the floor, away from her Captain's sad eyes.

"Oh, I see. Is he…?" Captain Archer asked.

"Oh, no sir. He's still alive. But Dr. Phlox estimates he only has a few hours left." T'Pol informed him. "We reversed course, and came back to Earth. We thought you would like to…" T'Pol couldn't finish.

"…to say goodbye. If you could have Travis come pick me up with a shuttle pod, T'Pol, and make sure Porthos is comfortable. Archer out." Captain Archer's head disappeared from the view screen, and in its place was Earth, a floating ball of blue and green against a sharp black background that was space.

"Lieutenant Reed, Ensign Sato, come with me to sickbay. Travis, you heard the Captain. Take a shuttle pod and pick him up." T'Pol ordered.

"Bridge to Engineering. Commander Tucker, please report to sickbay." T'Pol spoke to the comm. link she had established to Engineering.

"Aye, sir. Tucker out." Came the brief response.

Captain Archer and Travis came rushing through the sickbay doors half an hour later. Jonathan could barely stand the site of his loyal K-9 friend, Porthos, lying on a bio-bed, with all of his senior officers surrounding him.

"Captain, I'm so sorry…there's nothing I can do for him…" Dr. Phlox tried to explain.

"Is he in any pain?" Captain Archer asked as he looked Porthos in the eye. His voice wavered slightly, as if he was holding back his tears.

"No sir." Dr. Phlox muttered.

"Hey buddy! I always thought you would outlive me…but I guess I'm going to be the one who lives the longest, isn't that right?" Captain Archer spoke to Porthos quietly.

He drew in a long, shaky breath. "Porthos…you've been…such a good friend, pal." He continued. "I don't know what I'm going to do without you."

Tears were streaming down Ensign Sato's face. She turned away from the bio-bed. Travis put an arm around her shoulder, trying to comfort her.

"I'm sorry to see you go, Porthos. You've been such a good dog, never wanting too much attention, never getting space sick…" Jonathan smiled briefly. "At least now I'll have more cheese to myself."

Trip smiled. His Captain had a way of making even the saddest of occasions funny.

Captain Archer's smile lasted only for a few seconds. A tear escaped his eye as Porthos whined, and licked his hands. Porthos then laid his head back, closed his eyes, and drew his final breath.

T'Pol was struggling not to cry. She didn't like it when everyone else was crying and she wasn't, but she was a Vulcan, and Vulcans don't cry…even when their most loyal friends die.

Trip, seeing her struggle, put his arms around her, hugging her close to him. Hoshi was now sobbing, while Travis cried silently. Malcolm only had tears in his eyes, but he never let them escape.

Captain Archer gave Porthos once last hug before stepping back.

"I'm…so…sorry, Captain. I should have…tried harder…" Dr. Phlox apologized.

"There's nothing any of us could have done to prevent this, Doctor. This just shows that even the best of us must die eventually." Captain Archer explained.

"Come on, we have a ship to run." He said to his crew.

"Captain, you still have four days of vacation left. Don't you want to take some time to grieve?" Trip asked.

Captain Archer thought for a moment, then answered. "Porthos loved Enterprise. I don't think he would want me to grieve anywhere else. I'll be in my ready room."

With that, Captain Archer left sickbay. T'Pol freed herself from Trip's arms, and started after him. Malcolm stopped her, and shook his head. T'Pol understood that he needed time alone.

"Doesn't this make you wonder if the rest of us will live long enough to die of old age, or if we'll be killed in combat somewhere?" Travis asked in the midst of the silence.

Hoshi jabbed him with her elbow, still sobbing.

"Does it matter, Ensign, how we die? The fact is that even the best of us must die." Trip said.

Travis nodded his head in understanding.

"Even the best of us must die." He repeated, looking one last time at Porthos.


End file.
